"We will not match Russia soldier for soldier, tank for tank, or plane for plane. Our aim is to prevent conflict, not to provoke it," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers.

"Today, we agreed on the next steps to modernize the NATO Command Structure, based on recommendations from our senior commanders. We also received an update on the deployment of our new deterrent forces in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. And we expect the four multinational battle groups to be fully operational by June."